2009 James Beard Foundation Awards Winners Announced

NEW YORK, May 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Winners were announced this evening for the 2009 James Beard Foundation Awards, the nation's most prestigious recognition program honoring professionals in the food and beverage industries. During a ceremony hosted by Cat Cora, Emeril Lagasse and Stanley Tucci at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, awards in 38 categories were presented, including Restaurant and Chef, Book, Design and Graphics, and special achievement awards. Industry leaders from across the country attended this year's highly-anticipated festivities, which celebrated "Women in Food" and included a post-show Gala Reception featuring some of the nation's top female chefs, sommeliers, mixologists and artisanal producers, led by Gala Chair Lidia Matticchio Bastianich. The annual Journalism and Broadcast Media Awards were presented at the invitation-only Media Awards Dinner on Sunday, May 3, 2009 at the Hudson Theatre in midtown Manhattan. For a complete list of winners, please visit www.JBFAwards.com.

Highlights from this year's list of winners include:

• Outstanding Restaurant: Jean Georges (Chef/Owner: Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Owner: Phil Suarez, New York, NY)

• Outstanding Chef: Dan Barber (Blue Hill, New York, NY)

• Rising Star Chef: Nate Appleman (A16, San Francisco, CA)

• Best New Restaurant: Momofuku Ko (Chef/Owners: David Chang and Peter Serpico, New York, NY)

• Cookbook of the Year: Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, with Recipes (Author: Jennifer McLagan, Publisher: Ten Speed Press, Editor: Clancy Drake)

In addition, special achievement award honorees included:

• Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America: David Burke (Chef, Entrepreneur, New York, NY); John T. Edge (Journalist, Director, Southern Foodways Alliance, Oxford, MS); Betty Fussell (Author, Culinary Historian, New York, NY); Dorothy Cann Hamilton (Founder, The French Culinary Institute, New York, NY); Clark Wolf (Clark Wolf Company, New York, NY)

• America's Classics: Arnold's Country Kitchen (Owners: Jack and Rose Arnold, Nashville, TN); Breitbach's Country Dining (Owner: Mike Breitbach, Sherrill, IA); Mustache Bill's Diner (Owner: Bill Smith, Barnegat Light, NJ); Totonno's (Owner: Lawrence Ciminieri, Brooklyn, NY); Yank Sing (Owner: Vera Chan-Waller, San Francisco, CA)

• Humanitarian of the Year: Feeding America

• Lifetime Achievement Award: Ella Brennan (Partner: Commander's Palace Family of Restaurants)

The Journalism and Broadcast Media awards were presented on Sunday, May 3, 2009 at the annual Media Awards Dinner at the Hudson Theatre. Highlights include:

• MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award: Aleksandra Crapanzano, Gourmet, "Benedictions" 09/08

• Newspaper Food Section: The Washington Post, Joe Yonan

• Television Food Show, National or Local: Lidia's Italy: Sweet Napoli, Host: Lidia Matticchio Bastianich

• Website Focusing on Food, Beverage, Restaurant, or Nutrition: Epicurious.com, Tanya Steel

• Restaurant Reviews: Adam Platt, New York Magazine, "Faux French"; "The Mario of Midtown"; "Corton on Hudson", 07/14/08, 09/15/08, 11/24/08

Established in 1990, the James Beard Foundation Awards recognize culinary professionals for excellence and achievement in their fields and continue to emphasize the Foundation's mission: to celebrate, preserve, and nurture America's culinary heritage and diversity. All award winners receive a certificate and a bronze medallion engraved with the James Beard Foundation Awards insignia. There are no cash awards.

The 2009 James Beard Foundation Awards are presented in association with All-Clad Metalcrafters and American Express(R) (the official card of the James Beard Foundation); Premier Sponsors: Green & Black's(R) Organic Chocolate, Lexus, Viking Range Corporation; Supporting Sponsors: Delta Air Lines, illy caffe North America, Inc., Southern Wine & Spirits of New York, Stella Artois; Gala Reception Sponsors: Acqua Panna(R) Natural Spring Water, Ecolab, Pernod Ricard USA, Rums of Puerto Rico, S.Pellegrino(R) Sparkling Natural Mineral Water; and with additional support from Chefwear and Pommery Champagne.

About the James Beard Foundation

The James Beard Foundation is dedicated to celebrating, preserving, and nurturing America's culinary heritage and diversity in order to elevate the appreciation of our culinary excellence. A cookbook author and teacher with an encyclopedic knowledge about food, James Beard, who died in 1985, was a champion of American cuisine. He helped educate and mentor generations of professional chefs and food enthusiasts. Today, the Beard Foundation continues in the same spirit by administering a number of diverse programs that include educational initiatives, food industry awards, scholarships to culinary schools, and publications, and by maintaining the historic James Beard House in New York City's Greenwich Village as a performance space for visiting chefs. For more information, please visit www.jamesbeard.org.